Return of the Neanderthals

So I have been absent from my spiritual blog for some time due to the fact that I was preparing for my comprehensive examination as well as contemplating the future of this blog in a world that is becoming increasingly intolerant of criticism. In fact, I have plans to at the start of the Passover season around the end of March to take a forty day break from social media (namely Facebook, Twitter and Blogger) in order to deepen and enrich my spiritual life as well as learn how to cope without social media. After all, one day, such freedom can be taken away from me. Nevertheless, for this post in particular, I want to discuss and comment on the National Geographic feature on the Return of the Neanderthals (Hughes, 2013) and possibly other extinct beings, putting it in a Judeo-Christian perspective.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130306-neanderthal-genome-extinction-cloning-hominid-science/

Return of the Neanderthals

news.nationalgeographic.com

Scientists could someday resurrect Neanderthals—or at least their cells—to help modern humans. Would it be ethical?

The very sound of the title: "Return of the Neanderthals", seems like a title that would make a nice Hollywood story: like a modern retake on "Frankenstein" and/or even "The Planet of Apes". I find that we have this theme running in science fictions where human beings create an artificial being that is much stronger than themself who ends up tormenting humanity and becoming an oppressor, with the human creator (or creators) losing control over such beings. This idea is also expressed in Jewish mythology through the idea of the Golem, which in my opinion shows that all our (scientific) thoughts and developments are driven to some extent by our mythologies (more to come on this later).

Of course, the seriousness of the matter is overlooked. Our [mad] scientists who actually try to summon these extinct beings from the dead through cloning, need to be guided by our science fictions that warn us that one day we will create something that will almost devastate us. As they say, the road to hell is paved by good intentions. Hence it is much frightening when we consider the science fiction scenario of how we as human beings create or summon beings into our dimension that will totally devastate, oppress us and lead us to our ruin. Yet, in reality, this is actually being done and has been done in the past. Our pagan religions have sought to communicate to and establish connections with other beings not of our world that have lead to demonic possession and domination by fallen angels. But even if you do not believe in fallen angels and demons, if you just consider our science fictions and what they tell about the dangers of our inventions, it does point out that if man's destiny is in his own hand, then what a frightful and fearful future is on the horizon for us as humanity.


Essentially, human nature cannot be trusted. I have no trust in human nature. Men conspire, scheme, institute tyranny and oppress others. Such nature has not yet changed. And as long as human beings are the same as they were for millenia, then someone will use science and technology for evil. Already, we see that the US military is contemplating creating (Weinberger, 2013) and attempted to create (Heussner, 2009)  supersoldiers. However, even if humans do not intend to use their inventions for evil, as our science fiction themes point out, there can be unintended consequences of even creating artificial beings, especially humanoids.

But, since I subscribe to Judeo-Christian eschatology, I know that the future is not as scary as how science fiction predicts that it will be, at least not for everyone. The Bible already tells us how the world will end, thereby telling us that our fate is not in our own hands. However, this latest development could in fact create what we call the return of the Nephilim from Genesis 6:4. This is already an idea that is explored in Harding (2010), who suggests that what the ancients called the Nephilim may actually be the Neanderthals so-called by today's scientists. In addition, Jesus himself did say that the end of the world will be like the time of Noah (Matthew 24:37; Luke 17:26), lending credence to the fact that the Nephilim could actually return. Hence, it is very possible that our scientists in an attempt to bring extinct humanoids back to life, may create and resurrect the Nephilim of the 21st century.

Currently, we have demons, which according to some scholars are the disembodied souls of the Nephilim that continue to roam the earth and look for human bodies to possess and inhabit (Klein & Spears, 2005).  As such, I do not see it as farfetched that human scientists are creating the conditions for the return of these demonic entities in physical form that will permit them to regain physical bodies to oppress us as they once did before the flood. In fact, the imagery in the book of Revelations does show one such possibility. In one chapter of Revelations, the Bible speaks of an image being created, who will kill all that do not worship it (Revelation 13:15). When we consider that there is to be a seed of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), it is clear that Satanic forces are driving our science to create a body in which Satan can find an incarnation, just like how Jesus was an incarnation of God (an idea I know that many currently do not accept). Biblically, it makes sense.


References:

Harding, Fred. (2010, March). Nephilim skeletons found. ISEE Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.teklinepublishing.co.uk/art-nephilim.htm

Heussner, K. M. (2009, November 9). Psychic spies: Any truth in 'Men who stare at goats?' ABC News Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/psychic-spies-truth-men-stare-goats/story?id=9032019


Hughes, V. (2013, March 6). Return of the Neanderthals: Should scientists seek to clone our ancient hominid cousins? National Geographic News Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130306-neanderthal-genome-extinction-cloning-hominid-science/


Klein, J, & Spears, A. (2005). Devils and demons and the return of the Nephilim. [S.l.] : Xulon Press, c2005.



Weinberger, S. (2013, January 21). Iron Man to Batman: The future of soldier suits. BBC Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130121-batman-meets-iron-man-in-combat/1

Problems in science and religion

This week I read an article from the National Public Radio and have meditated on it in relation to a conversation that I had in a previous week with another young person. In our conversation, the young Jamaican mentioned frustration at political leaders quoting, alluding to and referencing the Bible when discussing the nation's problems. And that person is not the only one. I have even seen my Jamaican network on Twitter also expressing disgust at Biblical reference, allusions and meaning given by Jamaican political leaders in their execution of their political responsibilities and duties. The National Public Radio's article however, goes on to find out why.

While I can understand why many of my generation and peers may be turned away from religion, it beats me that we so trust the methods of science that we are willing to believe and take the imaginary accounts of what scientists could not have observed as having happened and actually taking place as a better alternative. My friends, the methods of science are part imagination and part observation. Science also like religion uses storytelling and imagination in telling a story based on the reasoning, deducting or inferring from what we can see and observe to what we don't actually know, but wish to know. Take for example, the Big Bang theory or the theory of evolution. No scientist was actually present at the beginning of time to actually observe what took place. In fact, even with the Neanderthal skeletons that man has found and used to construct a theory of natural selection, there are disputes within the scientific community about (Harding, 2010). Unfortunately, we are not all schooled in the methods of science to know how much imagination often plays a part of the scientific process.

Another problem with science and its view of the world, is that even the process of science is not totally free from manipulation (especially in the era of corporate funded universities and research). The very same methods that are supposed to be objective are being manipulated by industry to sell us stuff or ideas that can even kill us slowly. I know from experience that if one wants to get funding for one's research, one has to seek out an organisation or institution that is interested in the possible findings of that research. Then one has to be able to convince the institution through a research proposal that such research will ultimately meet the institution's goals or objectives. Knowing this, I now take this into consideration when reading scientific publications to see if scholars indicate in their publications the institution(s) that funded the research.

However, what I have taken away from this is that just as how religion has been manipulated, science can also be manipulated. Those who hold power over the people, will use any storytelling devices and institutions that we believe in and trust in order to control us. Hence it is not that religion is irrelevant in an era of science, but for me, the issue is trying to decipher what has been added and how people in power (the elite) have taken over religious institutions and made them agents of propaganda and hegemony in order to keep their own status in tact.

For me, religion and its rituals are not irrelevant; but more relevant is the search for meaning. Religious rituals become irrelevant when they fail to give us an occasion to search for and find meaning. Rituals are suppose to lead us to seek and find meaning, but to some adherents, have become an end in themselves. But the whole purpose of rituals are to point us to the end: arriving at better understanding and meaning about ourselves and our God, and why the world is the way it is. As one apostle puts it, our religious rules and rituals are only but a shadow of things to come and not the realities (Hebrews 10:1 ; Colossians 2:17).


Hence the purpose of our religious rituals should be to point to past, present and future realities. While religion should give us an occasion to tell the stories of humanity's past and to reflect on it, religious rituals must primarily get us to think about our present and future, and where we are heading or going. While our rituals are supposed to do this, just like science, they have been tampered with. Religious and political authorities have intentionally and unintentionally added to and subtracted from religion rituals and meaning to create a man-made religion that serve or suit their own purposes. This have been done over the millennia until what we have today are rituals and meaning that God did not intend for us to have (Mark 7:7-9).


Hence, the irony is that the very thing that should keep us in harmony with our world and others is the very thing that power elite will adopt in order to exert control and to preserve their status: whether science or religion (or both). Need I mention Adolf Hitler to justify this statement?


Reference:


Harding, Fred. (2010, March). Nephilim skeletons found. ISEE Magazine http://www.teklinepublishing.co.uk/art-nephilim.htm


National Public Radio. (2013, January 15). More young people are moving away from religion, But Why? Retrieved: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/15/169342349/more-young-people-are-moving-away-from-religion-but-why